Submerged in his world of swarming orchestral swells and velvety baritone, Allen Tate can usher in a tear as quickly as he can ease a head full of bees. In his 2016 release of Sleepwalker, Tate explores the kaleidoscope concept of being alone, addressing the danger of indulging too much in our isolation (“Being Alone,” “Wrapped Up”), and the consequences of attempting to avoid loneliness altogether (“Y.D.N.F.”). He’s a masterful lyricist, haunting and euphoric in the way he shamelessly pins fear and apprehension to the wall, examining their origins. His latest releases “When Did I Get Like This” and “What to Say” maintain his knack for introspective writing, only on a larger, more self-aware scale. Where Sleepwalker (best described as “menacing bath: warm and enveloping, but with an element of anxiety) is moody, murky and teeming with tension, In the Waves  feels like a giant inhale, a desperate need to wake up and breathe after simmering beneath the surface of that very solitary, menacing bath.